I am using Hibernate 3.2 with oracle10g and am adding a number of indexes suggested by an ADDM report.

While it is quite easy to define a multiple column index within an hbm file, my problem is that I need to add a multiple column index which includes a column for which there is already a much needed index.

i.e. table FOO has columns A, B, and C. A and B each have an index defined for them. The ADDM report suggests that large performance gains can be had if a multiple column index is added for (A,C).

Thus far I've met the need by defining a database-object in the hbm file which creates and destroys the (A,C) index. However, I am wondering if there is a better approach available.

As far as I know, the database object is the best choice you can make for your use case.